David Neitz
Personal information
Full name	David Neitz
Date of birth	(1975-01-22)22 January 1975 (age 50)
Place of birth	Ulverstone, Tasmania
Original team(s)	Parkmore
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	100 kg (220 lb)
Position(s)	Full forward/centre half back
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1993–2008	Melbourne	306 (631)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2008.
Career highlights
Melbourne captain: 2000–2008 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist: 2002 Coleman Medallist: 2002 7×Melbourneleading goalkicker: 1996, 1997 (equal), 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 Harold Ball Memorial Trophy: 1993 2×All-Australian team: 1995, 2002 AFL Rising Star nominee:1993 Melbourne Hall of Fame Australian Football Hall of Fame
Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com

David Neitz (born 22 January 1975), is a retiredAustralian rules footballer. A strongly built forward, he debuted at 18 years old. In just his sixth senior game kicked 6 goals 6 behinds. In his 2nd year, with Melbourne's forward line consisting of Garry Lyon and David Schwarz, among others. He was shifted to the backline to fill a need, Neitz proved he was capable of playing both ends of the ground.

Neitz was the longest-serving captain in the history of theMelbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne player to achieve the 300-game milestone. He is considered one of the greatest ever players to come out of the island state ofTasmania.

Neitz was born inUlverstone, Tasmania, he was groomed as a potentialAustralian Football League player from the age of 15 and targeted by the recruiters at the Melbourne Football Club, entering the AFL in 1993 as a key position player, he soon became one of Melbourne's best young prospects.

In 1994, Neitz was named to his firstVictorian State of Origin team, and he went one step further in 1995 by making theAll-Australian team as well as the Victorian side.

After the retirement of Demons greatGarry Lyon, Neitz moved to the full-forward position and began his successful run as one of the AFL's elite goal scorers. He has led Melbourne's goalkicking seven times (1996, 1997 (equal), 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006), and in 2002 won the prestigiousColeman Medal for leading the league in goals, making him not only the first Melbourne player to do so, but also the first Melbourne player to lead the competition's goalkicking since the 1940s. On 8 April 2005, Neitz became the 40th person inVFL/AFL history to kick 500 career goals.

Neitz was appointed captain of Melbourne in 2000, and on 8 April 2005 he broke the club record for most games captained (previously held by Garry Lyon with 112 games as captain). He has been anAll-Australian in 1995 and 2002, and played forAustralia in the1998 International Rules Series and2002 International Rules Series againstIreland. In 2002, Neitz also won his first Melbourne Best and Fairest Award, theKeith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal, along with theColeman Medal, for kicking the most goals of any player in that season.

On 8 April 2005, Neitz played his 250th career AFL game, and in 2006 signed a two-year contract extension seeing him through to the end of 2007. Neitz became Melbourne's all-time leading goal-kicker on 19 May 2006, surpassingNorm Smith's previous record of 546 goals. Two weeks later, he brokeRobert Flower's long standing record of 272 games, making him the longest serving Demon in history. He played his 300th AFL game for the Demons in the defeat against Collingwood on 17 August 2007. He is one of only two players to play as many games for the Melbourne Football Club, the other beingNathan Jones.^[1]

Neitz now sits on theAFL Tribunal jury, adjudicating on high-profile cases that arise during the regular season.^[2]

^[3]

• Individual
  • Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal: 2002
  • Coleman Medal: 2002
  • Melbourne F.C. Captain: 2000-2008
  • All-Australian: 1995, 2002
  • Melbourne F.C. Leading Goalkicker: 1996–1997, 1999, 2002–2004, 2006
  • Australian Representative Honours inInternational Rules Football: 1998, 2002
  • AFL Rising Star Nominee: 1993 (Round 6)

Due to a broken disc in the back of his neck, and after playing only five games in 2008, he finally pulled the plug on his AFL career as he announced his immediate retirement on 19 May 2008. In the round nine 2008 match Melbourne vs Hawthorn after the match Neitz was given a standing ovation by the players and the fans. He ended his playing career with several Melbourne records that he'd broken during recent seasons, three in particular: Most games (one of only two players to play 300 games for Melbourne), most goals, and longest-serving captain.^[4]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDavid Neitz.

• David Neitz's playing statistics from AFL Tables

• 1975 births
• All-Australians (AFL)
• Australian rules footballers from Tasmania
• Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
• Coleman Medal winners
• Victorian State of Origin players
• Australian people of German descent
• Living people
• Melbourne Football Club players
• Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners
• People from Ulverstone, Tasmania
• Melbourne Football Club captains
• Australia international rules football team players
• Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from August 2012
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• Use dmy dates from March 2020
• Short description matches Wikidata
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